FACULTY EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

DEPARTMENT OF WRITING, LANGUAGES, AND LITERATURES

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF WRITING, LANGUAGES, AND LITERATURES (COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC)

FULL-TIME TENURE-TRACK

THE UNIVERSITY: California State University, East Bay (CSUEB), one of the 23 California State Universities, is a comprehensive university serving the San Francisco Bay Area/Silicon Valley. We are proud of our mission to support a richly diverse student body through academically rich and culturally relevant learning experiences. We are designated Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) as well as an Asian American & Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution (AANAPISI), and we have the second highest percentage of Black students in the CSU system. Our student population reflects a variety of abilities and identities. Many are the first in their family to attend college. Our students come from a number of regional community colleges and high schools. The successful candidate will bring with them expertise or an openness to creating a welcoming and supportive environment for all of our students. 

We are known for our award-winning programs, expert instruction, diverse student body, and a choice of more than 100 career-focused fields of study. With an enrollment of approximately 10,000 students and 900 faculty, the University offers bachelor’s degrees in 49 fields, minors in 52 fields, master’s degrees in 34 fields, 16 credentials programs, 18 certificate options, and one doctoral degree program. Cal State East Bay has three locations: the main 342 acre campus in the Hayward hills, the Concord Center, and the downtown Oakland Center.

For more information on CSUEB, please visit: http://www20.csueastbay.edu/ or https://www.csueastbay.edu/about/mission-and-strategic-planning/index.html

THE DEPARTMENT: Our newly formed Department of Writing, Languages, and Literatures (WLL) believes in the transformative power of writing. Bringing together the Departments of English and Modern Languages and Literatures in fall 2024, WLL consists of 40 educators (15 tenure-line, 25 lecturer faculty) with varied lived experiences and interests. Our department serves diverse students across campus through our composition program and other general education (GE) offerings. Our GE offerings focus on themes of diversity, social justice, and environmental justice in composition, literature, creative writing, and cultural studies.

For our more than 130 English and Spanish majors and 90 minors in English, creative writing, and five distinct languages, we offer courses in literature, creative writing, composition, linguistics, languages, cultural studies, and language arts pedagogy. Our BAs in English and Spanish foster understanding and appreciation of English- and Spanish-language literatures and writing from around the globe, with emphasis on works by and about ethnic and cultural minorities and women; the history, structure, and socio-cultural aspects of English, Spanish, and other languages; and the aims and processes of creative and critical writing. Our department strives to provide safe and supportive spaces for our students with various life experiences through collaborations with programs like GANAS, Project IMPACT, and Project Rebound. 

THE DUTIES OF THE POSITION: The department seeks a tenure-line teacher/scholar/administrator/activist in composition, rhetoric, and writing studies. The successful candidate will teach undergraduate courses in the Writing, Languages and Literatures majors, composition, and other general education areas. The successful candidate will coordinate the current composition program and creatively direct sustainable writing pedagogies and curriculum. As our department collaboratively works to reinvigorate and reimagine our composition program, this position provides space for   growing and evolving our composition coursework through innovative and culturally relevant methods. The successful candidate should sustain an active research agenda, coordinate professional development to support composition faculty, and provide support to university initiatives such as increasing first-year retention rates and eliminating equity gaps for historically underserved students in first-year composition. 

The successful candidate’s teaching, research, and administrative experience engage with race and ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and ability status and who are prepared to develop and teach writing courses that address interdisciplinary themes of racial/ethnic equity and inclusion, social justice, and environmental sustainability. We encourage candidates with experience as lecturers and those who have experience advocating for composition studies and students as critical readers, writers, and thinkers. Candidates should have a firm grounding in praxis-centered, interdisciplinary and intersectional anti-racist pedagogies that are humanizing, anti-colonial, and culturally sustaining.

Please note that teaching assignments at California State University, East Bay include courses at the Hayward campus, Concord Center, and/or Online Campus. The policy and expectation of the California State University is that tenure-track faculty members will perform their duties within the state of California. In addition to teaching, all faculty have advising responsibilities, assist the department with administrative and/or committee work, and are expected to assume campus-wide committee responsibilities.

RANK AND SALARY: Assistant Professor. Salary is dependent upon educational preparation and experience.  Subject to budgetary authorization. Anticipated salary: $79,250 to $82,150. The anticipated hiring range is generally at or near the minimum of the appropriate range, commensurate with education and experience.  

DATE OF APPOINTMENT: Fall Semester 2025

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:  

• Ph.D., or Ed.D. in Composition, Rhetoric, Writing Studies, English, or closely related field (degree must be conferred by the start date of the position)

• Demonstrated evidence of training, experience, and/or research in writing program administration, writing center administration, and/or community-based writing programs at the university or secondary level 

• Demonstrated evidence of training, experience, or research with an impact on student writers and faculty through anti-racist, equitable, and social justice-centered programming and/or pedagogy

• Demonstrated evidence of training, experience, or research in multimodal literacy and/or AI applications in composition

• Pedagogical experience or training reflecting the ability to teach undergraduate courses in the WLL major, composition, and other areas of general education

• A record of publication (including dissertation or thesis) pertaining to composition, rhetoric, and/or writing studies, especially scholarship focused on diverse student populations and administrative approaches

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS: 

Evidence of expertise in one or more of the following areas is desirable but not required for a successful candidate: 

• Teaching experience in technical writing, comparative rhetoric, socio/linguistics, creative writing, or English education 

• Experience in advising students from diverse educational and cultural backgrounds

• Experience with developing online communities of practice for students and faculty

APPLICATION DEADLINE: Review of applications will begin November 6, 2024. The position, however, will be considered open until filled. Please submit a letter of application, which addresses the qualifications noted in the position announcement, along with a complete and current vita, and the materials listed below. Applications should be submitted via PageUp (see “Apply Now”). 

     1.   Diversity and Equity Statement:

Candidates are required to submit a 1-2 page diversity and equity statement that addresses how they would successfully engage our diverse student population in their teaching, research, mentoring, and advising. Cal State East Bay has a diverse student body and is committed to equity, inclusion, accessibility, and anti-racism. Our students have many intersecting identities, and many identify as first generation university students, immigrants, QTBIPOC, disabled, and/or hold other historically minoritized or marginalized identities. We also have many historically underserved students and financial aid qualified students. We care about our students as whole people and work towards fostering a sense of belonging inside and outside the classroom. 

As you write your statement, we encourage you to consider the following.

• We are interested in how your training, education, research, other professional/ volunteer experiences, and/or lived experience prepares you for engaging with our diverse student body. 

• In particular, we are interested in how you would apply your experiences and strategies to support our students’ academic, career, and personal goals. We are particularly interested in ways that you can do this while also reducing and eliminating equity gaps in the courses you will teach. We value innovation and creativity in situations where resources are limited. 

• Please use concrete examples of past experiences, training, research, and/or education and how you would leverage these to support our students at Cal State East Bay. 

2. Names and email addresses of three references 

3. A reflection that outlines your teaching philosophy and practices. In the reflection, you should discuss your beliefs about teaching and learning, ideally addressing how these beliefs apply to a specific course (or courses) that you have taught or would like to teach in the future. 

4. Sample syllabus and assignment from a composition course that you have taught or would like to teach in the future. Feel free to provide annotations or a reading guide briefly describing how you have scaffolded this assignment to meet the goals of the course.

Note: California State University, East Bay hires only individuals lawfully authorized to work in the United States. All offers of employment are contingent upon presentation of documents demonstrating the appointee’s identity and eligibility to work in accordance with provisions of the Immigration Reform and Control Act. A background check (including a criminal records check and prior employment verification) must be completed and cleared prior to the start of employment.

As an Equal Opportunity Employer, CSUEB does not discriminate on the basis of any protected categories: age, ancestry, citizenship, color, disability, gender, immigration status, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran’s status. The University is committed to the principles of diversity in employment and to creating a stimulating learning environment for its diverse student body.